According to the Mazda website, the car company was named for Ahura Mazda, “a god of the earliest civilizations in West Asia.” Mazda the car company has interpreted Mazda the god of wisdom, intelligence, and harmony, as “the symbol of the origin of both Eastern and Western civilizations, and also as a symbol of automobile culture.”

Cars, it would seem, have either divine or demonic potential, at least on the metaphorical level.

So it’s not a huge surprise that the Art Car Museum on Heights Boulevard in Houston is now accepting submissions for its new exhibit — the eighth annual open-call show — whose topic is God.

On Saturday, September 8, the museum will accept the first 125 pieces that arrive between the hours of 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., according to its website. Artists are allowed just one piece each; diptychs and triptychs are not allowed, and the maximum size per piece is four feet by four feet. “All works must be ready to hang or place. If your work needs a pedestal, please bring it with you,” the site adds.

The exhibit will open the following Saturday, September 15, from 7 to 10 p.m.

“We select the theme based on current issues and events. It is always very broad so as not to limit the artists or steer the work,” explains Mary Forbes, assistant director of the Art Car Museum. “The theme ‘God’ was discussed as a possibility in the past and this year it seemed most relevant. Discussions about the meaning of the Mayan calendar, the discovery of the ‘god’ particle, and the large number of natural disasters this year were elements of the decision.”

Each year, the show solicits feedback and interpretations from the artistic community on a “very broad, vague topic,” Forbes adds. “The themes bring a cohesiveness to the show and provide a guideline of sorts for the artists. We receive a wide variety of interpretations, but there are usually several pieces with a similar perspective,” she says.

Past themes of the show, which has no jury fee, have included: faces (self-portraiture); calacas (bones); war; green Texas; planes, trains, bikes, boats, and cars; good Gulf; and reconstruction.

Earth, Wind, Fire (and Water) Saturn station wagon by students at Davis High School led by Rebecca Bass, which will be part of the show. Credit: Paul McRae

“We expect ‘God’ to elicit a wide variety of artworks representing the strong beliefs of the participating artists,” she says. “The artworks will provide a vivid, visual discussion of the topic.”

When nearly 300 artists responded to the museum’s first show, “Faces,” officials realized there weren’t enough opportunities of this sort for Houston artists, Forbes says. But the museum has to cap the show at 125 for lack of more exhibition space, she says.

Forbes expects a wide range of submissions, including “a number of religious pieces, lots of very personal reflections on the topic, and many humorous works.” What she doesn’t anticipate are inappropriate submissions, despite the controversial theme. “In the past, we have not received any hateful works, and do not expect any this year,” she says.

The Art Car Museum opened in February 1998, founded as a nonprofit by artist Ann Harithas and James Harithas, the director of the Station Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston, according to Forbes.

“Houston is considered the ‘art car capital of the world,’ because there are more art car artists living in the Houston area than in any other,” she adds. “Along with the Art Car Museum, The Houston Orange Show Art Car Parade has a lot to do with that by inspiring freedom of expression and individuality through augmented vehicles.”